Thursday, July 2, 2009

Ani at 11 Months

Ani-bear is now one month from his first birthday, a fact that will make me sob if I allow it to sit too long, so I am trying to avoid that reality and instead focus on how amazing he is right now.

Ani is the most luscious, sweetest, cuddliest little love-bug in the history of procreation. I am 100 percent positive about this. My baby has thick, soft thighs I can't stop squeezing, cheeks as pinchable as they are delicious and a head of hair that always smells of "lemons and spiced tea" (at least according to Auntie K).

This month he has started scooting and in the three weeks he has been on the move, has become quite adept at getting from point A to point B. He is also working on pulling up and can get himself into a kneeling position and will probably be standing very soon. when I pull him up, he can stand on his own (while gripping something) for quite some time.

Increased mobility has changed his personalty a bit. He used to only want to cuddle, now he wants to be on the floor most of the time (a fact that has given me a new and even higher appreciation for the work of our cleaning ladies). This presents a huge problem: his evil sister. Having grown accustomed to her cute, albeit boring brother who sat like a pile of steaming poop in the middle of our living room, Miss Sammy is not taking too kindly to his sudden interest in--and ability to reach--her many toys. She has taken to daily (actually, hourly) murder attempts. And no, I am not exaggerating. If they are left alone, my little hell cat of a daughter will wrap her tiny hands around her brother's neck and squeeze as hard as she can. Obviously, I would not dream of leaving the ROOM. But I can't even make breakfast on one side while he is sitting on the other, lest he be pushed, shoved or potentially strangled. Yesterday, I had to rush him to the ER after a very confusing stint in the gym daycare (a post for another day) where he ended up sporting two gooseeggs, some bruising and bleeding on the back of his head.

No more. We are hiring a pro. Starting next week we have a psychiatrist we are paying beacoup bucks coming in to help us. The shrink is less for her and more for us to strategize and figure out how to encourage good behavior and eliminate (or greatly reduce) bad all while helping her maintain her unique loveliness. This is not the job for hacks like us. We need a pro.

Ani is becoming much feistier. He no longer allows toys to be snatched without major protest. He will fight if challenged and can communicate pretty clearly what he wants through pointing, gesturing and the few words he knows.

Since motion is taking the front seat, verbal seems to be moving to the back. He has started saying "thank you" and "dog" and "ball" among some other new words, but mostly he is focused on movement. He continues to enjoy nursing far more than his sister did at this age. I will continue to nurse him for at least a little while.

We'll see how all this progresses and also we now begin our countdown to the first birthday. I can't believe it has been a year.

Some photos:


2 comments:

Kristi said...

Oh, he is the cutest little boy, and he is beginning to look more like Sam too.

I remember 11 months. I loved 11 months.

I fear that once the twins are able to grab Isabella's toys, all hell will break loose in our house too. In fact, she's already acting proprietary over some of her old baby twins that the twins now play with. Let me know how the counseling goes. Good luck!

Christine said...

Hey, old friend. Enjoying your blog. ;)